Chinese medicine: from rural hospitals to top three hospitals in Kyoto

Chapter 1262 My Name is Chen Yang

"Give me back my husband's life! You heartless clinics! Incompetent doctors are harming people!"

“We’ve been practicing medicine at our clinic for decades and have never had a problem! It must be the patient’s own fault!”

"Get out of the way! We want to see the hospital leadership! We want the truth!"

"Family members, please calm down! Clinic managers, please cooperate with the investigation! Media friends, please step back!"

A cacophony of voices filled the air, and emotions ran high.

Chen Yang and his group made their way through the crowd and entered the emergency department under the protection of security guards.

The atmosphere was even more tense in the emergency room and ICU.

Through the glass of the ICU, you can see the busy figures of medical staff, the flashing of various monitoring instruments, and a middle-aged man lying unconscious on the hospital bed.

The head of the emergency department and the head of the ICU were discussing in hushed tones when they saw Liu Zhentao and Chen Yang arrive and quickly went to greet them.

"How is the situation?" Liu Zhentao asked.

The head of the emergency department took the medical record: "Dean Liu, please take a look."

"The patient is a 48-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital due to 'being in a coma for 2 hours'. Upon admission, he was in a deep coma, with unequal pupils and sluggish pupillary light reflex, shallow and slow breathing, a heart rate of 140 beats/min, and blood pressure of 80/50 mmHg. Toxicology screening showed a positive result for strychnine (brokeweed), with extremely high blood drug concentrations!"

"The patient also suffered from acute liver and kidney dysfunction, and elevated myocardial enzyme levels. Currently, the patient is on mechanical ventilation with endotracheal intubation, undergoing hemoperfusion combined with hemodialysis, and receiving comprehensive resuscitation including massive fluid resuscitation, vasopressors, myocardial nutrition, and protection of liver and kidney function. However, the patient's poisoning is too severe, resulting in multiple organ failure, and the prognosis is...extremely poor."

The ICU director added, "The powder residue provided by the family showed an alarmingly high level of strychnine, exceeding the safe dosage by dozens of times! Furthermore, it appears to have been mixed with several other herbal ingredients with neurotoxic and cardiotoxic properties; the specifics are still being analyzed. This is simply... simply poisoning!"

Chen Yang, Zhuang Qiwen, and Xia Hongliang frowned slightly as they listened.

With such a large dose of strychnine poisoning, the chances of successful rescue were already slim, but the combination of other toxins and multiple organ damage made the hope extremely slim.

"What did the clinic say? Can you find out the source of the prescription and the medicinal materials?" Chen Yang asked.

The head of the medical affairs department smiled wryly: "The person in charge of the clinic insisted at the beginning that it was a family secret recipe, safe and effective, and that nothing could go wrong."

"When the clinic manager saw the test results and the patient's condition, he panicked and stammered that he couldn't explain the specific formula. He only said that it was a 'powerful cough suppressant' for stubborn coughs."

"They said the medicinal materials came from a certain medicinal materials market and were processed nux vomica, but they could not provide formal invoices or quality inspection reports. We suspect that they may have used unprocessed nux vomica, or even raw or inferior products, and that the dosage was completely out of control."

Zhuang Qiwen said softly, "If nux vomica is not processed properly or is used in excess, the strychnine and nux vomica in it can cause tonic-clonic seizures, respiratory paralysis, and arrhythmia. The lethal dose is very small."

Xia Hongliang thought of the complicated processing techniques that Grandpa Lei used for strychnine, and compared them with the accident in front of him, he felt a chill.

The use of medicine in folk medicine can be so terrible when it loses its standardization and respect.

At this moment, the crying and commotion of the family members outside intensified again, as if someone was trying to rush in but was stopped by security guards.

Liu Zhentao frowned: "This can't go on. Director Chen, do you think... is it possible to come up with some ideas from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine to assist in the rescue or detoxification?"

“Even if there is only a sliver of hope, we will try. At the same time, we also need a respected expert like yourself to help calm the emotions of the family and the public, and explain the difference between legitimate traditional Chinese medicine and this kind of illegal operation.”

Chen Yang understood what Liu Zhentao meant.

At this moment, not only medical efforts are needed, but also guidance from the public and emotional support. As a renowned expert from elsewhere, his words may carry more weight than those of local doctors.

In addition, his reputation might earn the trust of patients' families.

"Let me first review the patient's detailed information and the condition of his tongue and pulse, and then discuss it with Dr. Zhuang and the others."

Chen Yang said, "At the same time, I can try to communicate with the family members and the person in charge of the clinic separately to understand the situation in more detail and stabilize the situation as much as possible."

"Okay! Then I'll leave it to Director Chen!" Liu Zhentao nodded and made the arrangements immediately.

Chen Yang, Zhuang Qiwen, and Xia Hongliang put on protective gowns and entered the ICU.

Upon close observation, the patient's complexion was ashen, lips were cyanotic, and there were occasional involuntary muscle twitches throughout the body. The tongue was dark purple with a thick, dry, yellow coating.

Chen Yang tried to take the pulse. Because of the effects of sedation and muscle relaxants, the pulse was somewhat distorted, but he could still feel that it was rapid and disordered, and sometimes intermittent.

"When the toxic heat is intense, it penetrates into the pericardium, triggers liver wind, depletes qi and yin, and damages all five internal organs."

Chen Yang said in a low voice, "The illness is severe, and the patient is in imminent danger."

Zhuang Qiwen quickly thought: "For nux vomica poisoning, Western medicine mainly focuses on supportive care and accelerating the excretion of toxins."

"Traditional Chinese medicine may be able to assist with methods such as clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling the liver and extinguishing wind, opening the orifices and waking the mind, and strengthening the body and consolidating the body. However, since the patient is already on a ventilator and taking a lot of Western medicine, it may not be appropriate to administer a large amount of decoction through the gastric tube."

Xia Hongliang suddenly said, "Could we use acupuncture? It can awaken the mind, clear the senses, calm the liver, and extinguish wind. Perhaps it can help stabilize vital signs and promote clarity? For example, we can use strong stimulation by inserting needles into Zhongguan, Neiguan, Yongquan, Taichong, and Hegu."

Chen Yang nodded: "It's worth a try."

After a brief discussion, the three devised an extremely cautious plan to supplement their treatment with traditional Chinese medicine:

1. Acupuncture: Select acupoints Renzhong, Neiguan (bilateral), Yongquan (bilateral), and Taichong (bilateral). Use shallow insertion and gentle twisting to open the orifices, awaken the mind, calm the liver, and relieve adverse qi.

2. Administer small amounts of concentrated Chinese herbal medicines with heat-clearing, detoxifying, blood-cooling, and orifice-opening properties via nasal feeding or enema, such as diluted Angong Niuhuang Wan or a very small amount of concentrated decoction of Xijiao Dihuang Tang combined with Lingjiao Gouteng Tang, to assist in detoxification, brain protection, and prevention of convulsions.

After the plan was proposed, the ICU director held an emergency discussion with relevant Western medicine doctors.

Given the extremely poor prognosis of the patient, any potentially beneficial attempts were worth considering. Furthermore, the plan proposed by Chen Yang's team was relatively cautious, mainly auxiliary and supportive. Ultimately, it was agreed to implement acupuncture under close monitoring, while the Chinese medicine enema was temporarily suspended pending further evaluation.

Meanwhile, accompanied by Vice President Liu and the director of the medical affairs department, Chen Yang walked out of the ICU to prepare to communicate with his family and the medical staff.

When the family members saw that "leaders" and "experts" had come out, they became even more agitated and rushed forward.

"Doctor! How is my husband? Is there any hope?"

"You have to save him! Our whole family is counting on him!"

"It's all that shady clinic's fault! You must severely punish the murderer!"

Chen Yang raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"Dear family members, please calm down. I am Dr. Chen Yang from Kyoto. My team and I have joined the rescue efforts for your family member. The hospital is currently using every possible means to do everything possible to save your life. Please trust the hospital's efforts."

Upon hearing the name "Chen Yang," some family members seemed taken aback. Someone in the crowd whispered, "Chen Yang? Is he the 'Yang Shen' who gave lectures on TV?"